Turned my first pens...


shaneymack

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So since i got my lathe last week ive been itching to do some pens to give as gifts. I just did a couple slimlines nothing very impressive but its my first ones so i figured id post. Like they say you always remember your first

I did one out of acrylic just wet sanded up to 12000 grit and one out of walnut polished with EEE and finished with a coat of shellawax.

post-16857-143483093503_thumb.jpg

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Those are very nice! How's the learning curve for those?

Pretty easy with the easy wood tools. I only exploded 2 acrylic ones. Lol. I wasnt turning fast enough. Once i cranked it up to 3500rpms it was a breeze. I tried a wenge pen with ca glue finish as my very first one, didnt turn out great. I think knowing the proper speeds for turning, sanding and finishi g helps. There is really no learning curve with easy wood tools. Using the EEE polish with the shellawax is a simple finish also. I knocked out the walnut pen for my pops while he was here watching in about 40 mins start to finish.
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Pretty easy with the easy wood tools. I only exploded 2 acrylic ones. Lol. I wasnt turning fast enough. Once i cranked it up to 3500rpms it was a breeze. I tried a wenge pen with ca glue finish as my very first one, didnt turn out great. I think knowing the proper speeds for turning, sanding and finishi g helps. There is really no learning curve with easy wood tools. Using the EEE polish with the shellawax is a simple finish also. I knocked out the walnut pen for my pops while he was here watching in about 40 mins start to finish.

I'm sure that exploding pens makes for exciting turning :D I'm looking to get a lathe to turn pens and small projects, I've done a little turning, figuring out the speeds is the hardest part for me, and remembering which gouge is used for what, damn things are like salad forks!
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I'm sure that exploding pens makes for exciting turning :D I'm looking to get a lathe to turn pens and small projects, I've done a little turning, figuring out the speeds is the hardest part for me, and remembering which gouge is used for what, damn things are like salad forks!

You should seriously try the easy wood tools stuff. You will be surprised how easy it makes it.

I'm sure that exploding pens makes for exciting turning :D I'm looking to get a lathe to turn pens and small projects, I've done a little turning, figuring out the speeds is the hardest part for me, and remembering which gouge is used for what, damn things are like salad forks!

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Wonderful first attempt.

Don't know how you're going to follow that up...but I'm looking forward...

I bought a couple designer twist pens. Im going to give one a try tomorrow. We will see how it goes. If it goes well i guess im getting a new pen for fathers day....
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Nice work. Acrylic is really easy to finish, micromesh wet sanding to 12000 then blue compound and a muslin cotton buffing wheel to remove the super fine scratches. A nice way to keep the pen looking a bit shinier and cleaner is to put a small amount of renaissance wax on with a microfiber cloth and buff it with the microfiber cloth. 

 

As for turning the blanks. 3500 is pretty high for a pen, and the slightest catch is gonna be catastrophic. Light passes at around 2000 to rough it round then 2600ish for shaping it to the size and shape you want. 

 

What speed are you doing your CA finish with? no more than 500 during the finish. My process is paper towel, and zip bag from one of the pen parts to keep my finger clean. Fold the paper towel into a 1" x whatever the longest edge is. Flood the CA onto the top of the wood and use the paper towel to distribute the CA over the whole blank. Then a quick shot of CA activator, wait 30ish seconds then do it again. I usually do 10 coats of medium or 15 coats of thin. If it's an oily wood such as rosewood, ebony, cocobolo, etc I wipe the blank with acetone right before putting a coat of thin on top of it to seal it before putting medium coats. After all the CA is dry, you finish it the same way as finishing acrylic blanks. 

 

Keep it up, for your first pens they look great. It's addictive, and before you know it everyone will be asking you for pens. 

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Nice work. Acrylic is really easy to finish, micromesh wet sanding to 12000 then blue compound and a muslin cotton buffing wheel to remove the super fine scratches. A nice way to keep the pen looking a bit shinier and cleaner is to put a small amount of renaissance wax on with a microfiber cloth and buff it with the microfiber cloth.

As for turning the blanks. 3500 is pretty high for a pen, and the slightest catch is gonna be catastrophic. Light passes at around 2000 to rough it round then 2600ish for shaping it to the size and shape you want.

What speed are you doing your CA finish with? no more than 500 during the finish. My process is paper towel, and zip bag from one of the pen parts to keep my finger clean. Fold the paper towel into a 1" x whatever the longest edge is. Flood the CA onto the top of the wood and use the paper towel to distribute the CA over the whole blank. Then a quick shot of CA activator, wait 30ish seconds then do it again. I usually do 10 coats of medium or 15 coats of thin. If it's an oily wood such as rosewood, ebony, cocobolo, etc I wipe the blank with acetone right before putting a coat of thin on top of it to seal it before putting medium coats. After all the CA is dry, you finish it the same way as finishing acrylic blanks.

Keep it up, for your first pens they look great. It's addictive, and before you know it everyone will be asking you for pens.

I revved up the lathe so high because my first 2 blew up on me when i was around 1200rpm. I couldnt figure out what the heck was going wrong. I thought it was the carbide tipped tools. I watched a bunch of videos and read some forums and it seemed the consensus was for acrylic go as fast as your lathe will spin. So i cranked that baby up and went to town. ( sounds like my wedding night )

When i did the ca finish i had no clue what i was doing. I dont remeber what speed i was at. I wasnt able to get rid of all the scratches and some white stuff appeared out of nowhere. It took me 5 mins to turn the pen and i was messing with the sanding/finishing for like 2 hours. A ziplock bag on the finger would have been good to know. I used a latex glove which is a no no with a lathe. I didnt post a pic of the wenge pen because i dont like it. I guess i will have to build up the courage to try the ca finish again. Thanks for the tips Tom

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I revved up the lathe so high because my first 2 blew up on me when i was around 1200rpm. I couldnt figure out what the heck was going wrong. I thought it was the carbide tipped tools. I watched a bunch of videos and read some forums and it seemed the consensus was for acrylic go as fast as your lathe will spin. So i cranked that baby up and went to town. ( sounds like my wedding night )

When i did the ca finish i had no clue what i was doing. I dont remeber what speed i was at. I wasnt able to get rid of all the scratches and some white stuff appeared out of nowhere. It took me 5 mins to turn the pen and i was messing with the sanding/finishing for like 2 hours. A ziplock bag on the finger would have been good to know. I used a latex glove which is a no no with a lathe. I didnt post a pic of the wenge pen because i dont like it. I guess i will have to build up the courage to try the ca finish again. Thanks for the tips Tom

 

I've got a pen to make pretty soon. Camelthorn Cigar Pen with copper hardware. I'll film it and throw it on youtube.

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I've got a pen to make pretty soon. Camelthorn Cigar Pen with copper hardware. I'll film it and throw it on youtube.

 

I've got a pen to make pretty soon. Camelthorn Cigar Pen with copper hardware. I'll film it and throw it on youtube.

Throw the link my way when you do it please!

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 I tried a wenge pen with ca glue finish as my very first one, didnt turn out great.

 

I haven't turned any wenge yet but I have to imagine it's one of the more difficult woods to turn, and probably not a good candidate for a CA glue finish.  The pores are so open it looks really weird with any film finish.  This is true for turnings and flatwork.  You might try some oil...IMO that's how wenge looks its best.

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Turned myself a pen for fathers day today. Its a designer twist model. It turned out pretty good, im quite happy with it.

attachicon.gifrps20150621_212418.jpg

Happy fathers day guys!

 

That came out nice. I love how some of the acrylics looks finished. My favorites though are the color stabilized burls. They finish well with CA, and they look stunning. You don't know until you start turning how nice it's gonna look. 

 

 

I haven't turned any wenge yet but I have to imagine it's one of the more difficult woods to turn, and probably not a good candidate for a CA glue finish.  The pores are so open it looks really weird with any film finish.  This is true for turnings and flatwork.  You might try some oil...IMO that's how wenge looks its best.

 

I turned a piece of Panga Panga which is essentially Wenge. It's a pain to sand. It's near impossible to get smooth just by sanding alone. I finished mine with a clear turning wax. You apply while spinning and then use friction to melt it into the pores and give you a nice smoother feel. Only problem is the wax finishes aren't too durable for heavy use. 

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